The Sun. — London, England, 1808-04-26 00:00:00

A b e ce p en i Vor what II the ernbargo laid?' And I chalt,enge any nian, , not in - t be secrets of the Execuliveyto tell. I l , „pow; Sir, that the President said tile papers above- . n»ntiorted" sbewed-that great and nicteastng ttnigers threatened onr vesNels, - our' sols:L1 it, `..;9.•1 nor i" but I also know that' t hey 'er,h;l::lz , .:,l no new danere7i ; none of which our mercl‘vos and geamen' hod not been well apprized. The 131-itiAt Proc.V.lmation . had runny days before been tr.ll):i,'.cd in ih!! . N?w:,papos (tiff copy laid hefore•us ! , t; Pic , i , l en t been cut on of a Newspaper), owl s ubola r ke, if tot the words, of rtsGstzt's Yet they had excited little concero among inc. chants and seamen, the . pres;:rvation of. whose pc! sons and property w 4 the prof4iedobjea of the Prc,;itivnt' vccommendatiOn of an embargo. The want of foreign goods and inanufa4lures% and the ; other evils incident to a state of war ; and ruin, by the lose. of our liberty and iedependence. k'er, if with the. aid of -our arms, Great Britain here ' sub= clued—frona that moment, though flattered perhaps with the name of Allies, we should become tine ,provinces of Frau Ce. This is. a result se - obvious, that I must crave your pardon for noticing it. Some advocates of executive measures admit it. They' acknowledge thatthe.rZavy .of' - Great.. Britain is. our shield.against the overwhelming power of France. Why then do . they persist itt 'a course:of conduct tending to a rupture with Great Britain itbe believed, that it is }principally;. or ',solely, to procure inviolability to the Merchant of the United StateS ? In other words,:!to protect an seamen', British subjets, as Well as our citizens,'on board our Mer chant Vessels ? It is a lad, that this has been made the greatest obstacle to an'amicable settlement with Great Britain'. Yet, I repeat it, it is perfectly well known, that she desires to obtain only her own subs jets ; and that American citizens, impressed by mistake, are delivered up on duly .authenticated proof. The evil we complain of arises from the impossibility of always distinguishing the persons of two/ nations, who, a few years shit e, .were one people,, who exhibit the. same manners, speak the same Ilanguage, and possess similar features. 13nt seeing that we seldom hear complaints in the great navigating . States, how happens 'there to be such extreme sympathy far American seamen at Washington ? Especially in Gentlemen from the interior States, ,which have .no seamen, or from those of Atlantic States, whose native seamen bear a very small, proportion to those of New England ? in fat, the causes of complaint are much fewer than are pretended. They rarely occur in the. Slates whose seamen are chiefly natives. The first tner-, chant in the United States, in answering my late in quiry about British impressments, says, " Since the Chesapeake affair, we have had no cause ofcotpplaint. I cannot find one single instance where they have, taken one man out -of a Merchapt Vessel. I have had more that twenty Vessels arrived in,that without one instance of a man being taken, by them. Three Swedes were taken out by a Frepeh 'Frigate. I have made inquiry of all the Masters that have ar rived in this:vicinity, and cannot find any complaint against the British cruizers. Can Gentlemen of known hoitility to foreign com merce in our own Vcsiels-i=4ho are .ovele willing to annihilate it—(and such there are)---,can these Gen tlemen plead the cause of our . seamen because they %ally wish to prot,eet them .? Can those desire to protest ourseamen,' who, by , laying an unnecessary Embargo, expose them by thousands 'to Starve,or beg One Gentleman has said. (and .believe does not. stand alone), . that .soorier than admit the prin ciple that Great-Britain had .a right to take 'her own subjeds froth our tnerchant vessels, he would aban don commerce altogether ! To-what will every man in New England, and of the other navigating States, ascribe such a sentiment sentiment Which, to prevent the temporary losS - of five men, 'by impress, would reduce fifty thousand to beggary ! But for the Embarg o, thousands depending on the ordinary operations ' Y of commerce would now be etuployed. Broil under the restraints of the Orders of the Bri- Mere/11111S a0:1 Seailleti could accurately esiTinate the d,lngcrs of continuing their. commercial operations; dan...:ers indeed, the actual premiunis of in:iv:Edna; were a 's:lii,fa6tion. Those premiums had ve,ty,little increased : 14y the British PreclamatioAknot kcetit. : and by the Tel-elicit Decree so little as not to Stop commercial enterprizes. The great numbers ofNesNehkmdingor leaded, and relined tor sea ; the twrtionS evclN whete made, on the first rumour of the enibargo, to dispatch them, demonstrated the Pre . ‘dent's dangers to he imaginary,.-to ,have been as .unA. Or if great and real dangers, unknown to • commercial men, were impending, or sure to fall, how desirable was it to haVe it iyficially declared and °published l'hi t s would have produced a voluntary eeibargo, and prevented every complaint. Besides, the hanger~ clearly defined and understood, the pUb lie. mind wonld not have been disquieted with ima , gin f ily fears, the more tormenting, because uncer tain. • It is true that a considerable number of Vessels were collected itt oor pelts, and many held in sus pense ; not, however, from any 'new. danuers which appeared, bat from the mysterious : condlel, .of our Officers after the attack on the Chesapeake; and from the painful apprehension that the coarse the e 4 ;dent was pursuing would terminate in war. The Notioyth/ htdligencer (usually considered as the Executive Newspaper) gave the alarm ; and it was echoed through the United'States. War, probable or inevitable War, was the constant theme at the news papers and of the conversations, as reported, of persons snpposed. to be best informed of Executive deigns. . Yet :laid this din..of :war, no adequate preparationi were stro rpokitig to meet it, The or der to detach a huntirect thousand militia to fight the British navy (for there w4s, no appearance of an' enemy in any other shape), was so completely ab. shrd, a., to cr.cite with - men of common Sense no ollie.r emotion th3n tidiculC. Not the shadow of .a reason, tlitt. ctadd operate on the Mind of a man of cominon understanding,. ; can be 00i-et: in its jc.sti fieatiotf. The refirial of the British Officers to rerciVe the Frigate Cliesape‘ike as a prize,, when t(mil , !red by her ComarandQr, is 'a demonstration that t altac!: upon her vas exclusively for the perpose :of laking their deserters; and . not 'iti ,tended as, the comMentement of - a weir between 'the two nations. The President' knew that .the Lritiih had no invading army to limapn our shores ; end the detached Militia' would' be *less, ,ex co,,t, against land force. Why then was thls_order for nritia even cf. the case, and the ailtvil state rif t kings, authorise the inference, that its immediate, if not its only objeet, was to increase pnblie alarm, to ae,gravate the public resentment abrinst Great Britain, to excite a war pulse; and iTS - the bright of 'this artificial fpver of the public mind, which was to be made known in Great Britain, to renew the demands on her Government ; in 'poor expeetation of extorting, in that state of thingi, concessions of points which she had always i.:.tisidercd.4s her rights, and which at all times, and tilder all circumstances,, she had uniformly refused to relinquish. The result of the subsequent Negb t4ition at tendon has'shewn how Otterly, unfounded WWI the president's eXpeClation, how p - erfeelly use ' less all this bluster of War. While nu well-informed man doubted that the British. Government would make suitable reparation for the attack on the Ohesepegke ; the President himself, in his Proclama lion, had placed the, atiltir on that footing. A rup , ttite between the tWo'Nations, said he, " is equally opposed/to the interests of both, 0 it is to assurances of the ,most friendly dispositions on the part of the British aoyernmerit, it) 'the midst of which thii out rap,e was committen. In this light the subjea can tiot bttt present ittAl to that Government, and vt.r e natlin the motives to an honourable reparation wi.ich has been done." And it is ttcm that such• reparation might have t)eett ' promptly'ObtainA ;u London, had the Presi tiletit's instritetion3 to Ilt;' Altintoe' been coot- p .. ot ble h .adjuStinent. He was re r, „ this stngte transient o (MC adjusted Wil3 for ever ...C.:1;11 , "Cli011 . with another claim, of to catty the least, of double } L,L" exemption from linpressment of seamen i'ound on AineriCan Merchant To remedy ilk' cvi! arising froth its, eicer- WhiCh our eltizens were sometimes . attention of cur Government, under . b..trl been earnestly erigaged ; ;Ji t , ., yet been contrived: . , the truth, will question • • • , Inc Government to adopt tinent that 'NM secure to'Great Britain the ,( her own sidjeCO, .And now, when the :nripled situation Df tli't coun:ry (len alone to .rnaintain'theFonfliet Frpnce and her numerous &pendent t3tates . --lc it alone wiilvit.ind the power which mon:ices the of t4:%vorld) remkred the rid of all her'subjeEts more than ever ncedful; there was no reasonable ground expea that she , Would yield the right to - take them when found on board the. nierclinut 'ves,sels of any nation. Thus to insist on her y'lehlin tl:is point, - and inseparably to" conne4t it with the alfair Of the Chesapeake, was tantalum:int to a determination not to negotiate at all. I write, Sir, with freedom, l'Olr THE incTS ARE Tirn PERILVOS, 'l'o ALLOW THOSE WHO Allit PLACED IN HIGH AND I:CSP . ONSIBI.E 81111,STIONS 1O BE sl• II LVT 11E5131ttiC1)., :rite peace and. S3f,,ty o f our Co9ntry are suspended on a thread. The sours. Ivo have seen k orsued' leads on to war—to a war , With Great Brioin —a war a,bsoluteiy. without neces sity---a war, which, whether. disastrotii or success ful, must brit% misery and ruin tcrbe United States to6ery, by the destration of our navigation • and ommerce (perhoUs &soot our fairest sea-port towns wad the los of markets for .otir produce, the - denee, the Vxectitive may !procure the adoption of measures which may overwhelm us With ruin,'_ as, i surely as if" - he had an- army at his heels. :,43y false policy, or by inordinate fears, our Country may be betrayed and subjugated to-France, as surely as by . . corruption. I trust, Sir,hat no one who knows 'me will charge it to vanity when I say that I have' some knowledge of public men and public affairs ; and on that knowledge, and with solemnity, I de- ! clare to you, that I have - no confidence in the wisdeM or correklness of our public measures; that our Country is in imminent danger; that it is essential to the public safety that the blind confidence , rulers • should cease ; that the State Legislafures should know the fads and reasons on which import ant general laws are founded;' and especially that those States whose farms are on the Ocean, and whose harvests are gathered in every sea,,should immediately and serioilsly . consider how to preserve Them. In ail the branches of Government commercial informa tion is wanting ; andin this desert" called a city. that want cannot 'be supplied. Nothing hut the sense of the Commercial States, clearly and em phatically expressed, will save them from ruin. • Are our thousands of Ships and Vase's to rot in harbours ? Are our sixty thousand seamen tend fish ermen to be deprived of employment, and, with their families, reduced to want and beggary ? Are outs hun d reds of thousands of farmers to be com pelled to suffer their millions of surplus produce to perish on their hands ; that the President may make tin experiment on 'our patience and fortitude; and an the towering pride, the boundless ambition, and unyielding perseverance of the Conqueror of Eu rope ? Sir,, I have reason to believe that the President contemplates the continuance.of the Embargo until the French Emperor repeals his Decrees, violating as Well his Treaty with the United States as every neutral right ; and until Britain thereupOn'recalts her retaliating Orders !-;-,By that time we may have neither Ships nor Seamen : and that is precisely the, point to which some men wish to reduce us.— ' To see the improvidnce - of this project (io call it by no harsher Tine), and without adverting to ulterior views, let us look back to former years. Not Withstanding the well founded complaints of some individuals, and the murmurs of othersl not withstanding the frequent executive declarations of maritime aggressions committed .by Great Britain ; notwithstanding the outrageous_Decrees of France and Spain, and the wanton Spoliations prat:Used and executed by their cruizers and tribunals, of which we , sometimes hiar a faint whisper ;—the commerce' • of the United States has hithert o prospered beyond all example. Our citizens have accumulated wealth ; and the public revenue,, annually inereasing,•has been the President's annual boast. The fads demonstrate, that though Great within, with her thousand ships of war, could havealestrop ed our commerce, she has really done it no essential injury : and that the other belligerents bere4ofore re. strained by some regard to National Law, and limit? wed by the small number of their cruizers, ,have not inflicted upon it any deep wound.- Yet in this full tide of our success; our conunerce is suddenly ar-* rested :an alarM of war is raised fearful appreben -1 sions are excited: the merchants in particular, fish- Governmeut retalieting-the French Itniserial 1)e-.# thrown into a state of consternation, are advised, by crew, very large portions of the world retname open a voluntary embargo, to keep their vessels at home. to the commerce of the United States. We may And what Is the cause of this-mighty hut mischicv yet pursue our trade with the British dominions, is O t is alarm ? We know it in' its whole ekteTtf; It 'every part of the glob e ; with Akio, with Chita - was ati unthorised attack of a British naval officer and with the Colonies of France, .Sp a in, an d Hui- on the American Frigate Chesapeake, to search: for lend. And,, let tne, ask, • whether, in the Midst of and take some deserters known to have been receiv a profound peace, Whenehe Powers or Europe., pos- eel on board, who had been often demanded, and as, sessing Colonies, would, as formerly, confine the i often refused to be delivered' up. As was. expeaed trade with them to their own bott om s, or admit US,. by all considerate men, and by 'the President himself as foreigners, only under greataimitati ou a, we conk( (as I havebefore observed), the British GovernMenti enjoy comnaerce much more extensive: than is on the first information of the unfortunate event practicable at this moment, if the Etobarge were (ancl,without waiting tor an application) disavowed . not in the way ??Why then should it b e continu e d ? t h e act o f i ts otlicer—disclanned the principle of Why,' rather, was ,it ever laid Cae those be legis:' searching National armed vessels—and declared its tirnate reasons for the Embargo, which ar e concealed readiness to make suitable reparation, us soots as the . from Congress, at the moment whets they are re- state of the case should be fully known. • • quired to impose it ? Are the reasons to be found in Under such eircumstances, who can justify this, the dispatches from Paris? These have'been moved • alarm of war ? An alarm which greatly disquiet-' tor; and the motion was quashed by tlt advocates eel the public mind, and. occasioned an intertup for time Einbargre IVhy a r e th ese - dispatchers with. i lion. of commerce extremely , injurious to our mer • held by the Executive ? Why, when all clasmees of i chants and seat:llan citizens. citizens anxiously* inquire "Yur what-is the Embargo I will close this long letter.by stating all the-exist laid ?" is a satisfattory answer denied . ? Why is ing pretences- 7 14 there are no causes for a war with nor Congress • made• acquainted with the actual Great. Britain. - situation of . the United States ip relation to i 1. The British ships of war, agreeably to right , France ?, Why, in this dangerous crisis, are Mr.. claimed and exercised for ages=-•-a right claimed end Armstrong's letters to the Secretery of State absutute- 'exercised during the whole of the administration of ly withheld, so that n line of them catinot be eeett ? Weenteeeou, of ADAms, and ot‘feeesesosts-aesThe • Did they contain•noitiformatioirof the demands and - tinue to take: some of the British seamen found on Intentions of the French Emperor ? Did the Ile- board of our merchant vessels, and . with them a vents.sail frail England to France, and there wait •,stnall number of ours, fmm. the imposisibility of al . three or • rwlr weeks for dispatches el no import- ways distinguishing ..Englislimen from citizens of -since ? so, why, : regardless of the public aolt.'. the. United States. ,Oti ibis point our Government cituJe., thsir contents so carefully concealed? well know that Great -Britain Is . perfe6lly willing - to.' If really ueimportate, what harm -can, arise from adept any arrangeinent that can be devised, which Cotelling seeses and the Nation-ogicially thaethey • will secures- to her service the seamen who are het contain - notiliug of moement to the sitt.ty, the Oien. set:jet:is; and at the &nue time exempt ours berry, th:.! honour, -or theinterests of the United , from iinpressinent. States ? Oo the contrary, are they te e104e4. 4.)tked • 2. The merchant vessels of France,. Spain and up ,becaese tlwy will nut bear. the light ? Would Holland, being driven frotn.thc ocean, or destroyed, their dii;:lcoure rouse the spirit of the people, still . the cemineree of those countries With one aneiher, ! slumbering in'blind confidence in the, Iftecutive ?.; rind with their colOnics, could no l o ng er 'oe carried Has rho Freocie buiperoi declared . that he will have on by themselves. Here the vessels of neitral na no Neutrals ? beeequired that our pertselike them cane in to tlieir aids and carried on nearly the those of his vassal Siete in Eui l ipe, be Arts cg q inst whole of the, commerce of those nations. With their British CoinmerceP Is the Embargo a subaitate—a : seamen thus liberated from the merchant - 'service, milder iiirm of compliant:a with that matslissitenand, : those nationseite the present, aili preceding . wars, which, if eehibited iii its neked and insulting - as- were enabled to Irian their Ships of War; and the pea, • the American spirit might yet resent.? Are . Neutral Vessels and seamen supplying, their places, we still to be kept proteundly 'ignorant ef the tiecla 7 I>44,me infaa,„though• not in name, auxiliaries. cf rations and avowed designs of the, French Emperor, war, The commerce of those nations, without One although, these'Maysirike at oUr . ltberty led armed Ship on the sea appropriated ,for us prcitea-e pendeuce ?- Atmd e in the mean 'time,' are we; by a ., titer, was iu&ncL I thus to be se=cured unde=r Neutral thousand irritatiQZlS, hfcherishites prejudices, and , Flees; While the Merchant Vessels of Great Britain, by exciting fresh resentments, to isZerawn gradually with its numerous armed Ships to guard themewere. 'into avieir with Great Britain ? Why, amidst' the exposed to occasional capthres. SUch a course of extreme anxiety of the public mind . , is it 'still to be ,'.things Greatilriidin :has resisted, not in time present kept on the rack of fearful eXpeatatioti e by the Pre- ; only, but in former wars ; at least as far back as that sident's portentous silence • respeeting IrisFreud* 4of 1756. And she has claimed and. maintained a Dispatches ? Itt this concealm e nt . there is cameger, right to.impose; on this commerce some limits and In this conceahuent r oust b e w r a pt up the real cause restraints ; because it was a commerce which was -of the Embargo. On any other supposition it is ;' denied by those Nations to Neutrals in time of inexplicable. ' peace ; because it was a commerce of iinmeuse va- I fun alarmed, Sir, at this perilous state of things ; 1 ass to the suleets of her enemies; and because it I cannot repress my suspicions, for forbear thus to filled their treasuries with money to enable them to exhibit toyou the grounds on which they rest:The carry on their wins with Great Britain. ,people are advised to repose implicit confidence ea 3. The third nod only remeining pretence for tear the National Government ,• in that unb h oti tt e i ci c r ati n : with Great Britain, is the unfortunat e a ff a i r o f th e fis nce lies our danger. Armed With Chesapeake: whicli Lin ring been alteadyastated and le explaieee, • I will only remark here, thai it is not to believed that the British Government, after being, i defeated as before mentioned, .n its e.rdeacours to Make reparation in London, (or the wring toot.' by its servete, , would have sent hither a Seeeial Envoy .to Fief honourable satisfoEtion; but from its sincere desire` to close tllis wound, if our own G(azio - nment would iuffer ii to be. healed. Permit me now. to ask, . what nun, impartially viewing the subje&, will have the boldness to s 4 there exiats any cause for plunging the United Stales into a war with Great Britain ? Who that respetts his reputation as a man of common discernment will say it? .Who that regards the interest anti welfare of his country will say it ? Who 'then can justify, who find an excuse . fir a course of cunduti ' Which has bought our country into its present state of alarm, embarrassment and distress. For inySell, Sir, I must declare the opinion, that no free country was ever' before so eanselessly, 'and sd blindly throve • from the height of prosperity, and . plunged into ft state of dreadful anxiety and . sutfering. But front this degraded and wretched situation; it is not yet too late to escape. Let the dispatehes from our Minister in France be no longer concealed. Let the President i perform . the duty required of him lay the Constitution; by giving to Congress full intizirmation "of the state of the union in nape& to foreign nations. Above all, let him unfold our a6,tual Situation with • France. Let him tell us what are the demands and proposals of her Ruler. Had these been 'hum/rabid to the Upited States, would not the President have been eager to disclose them ? That they are of an en. tirely different nature, that they are dishonourable, that they are ruinous to our - conono ctok interest, and d„angvrons to ot;r liberty and indpendence, was are left to infer- ' I hope,'Sir, that the nature and magnitude of the subje& will furnish a sufficient apology for the length and style .of this letter.. Perhaps -borne' ma); deein it presumptuous to question the coisectnet ,3 " the proceeding ofour Goverument. A strong sense ' of duty, and distressing a_ ppreerensions .of nationa l ruin, have forced the task upon me. To borne, tba sentiments, which, in the sincerity of my heart,' have expressed, may give offence : for often nothing of feeds so much as the TRUTH. Yet do I not de. sire to otlend any man. , But when I see the dange•ous • extent of Executive influence; when I see the . Great Cotincil .of the Nation called on -to exa6t laws deeply . affecting the . interests .of . all classes of citizens, without adequate in forthation of the reason of that ' call :_wheat 1 Observe the deceptive glosses with which - the mischiefs of the Embargo are• attempted to •be I. palliated; and posterior events elduced .aa reason' to justify the measure : when I know that rir&esk s of tentiuuing their eommoieial . pmsnits agaiest ': 11 known dangers, can and will become more acceratir ,•, ly calculated by our merchants than by our Ge* , vernment ; when . , if any . new d„ogers - t6 corn., ' merce were impending, .of • which our 111CV..'H chants were uninformed, but of which the Govern.. ment obtained the knowledge through its Ng' ulster at Paris, or elsewhere, the 1 gets . 1 duty of the Executive to' ma it ke wa t s ho l s )l c ai t known to COngreas and the Nation : and since it se I made known, The Merchants and the seafaring Citim tens would, fOrtheir own interests and Safelyehal then! taken the precautions to g u ard againsem : a nd and as it hence appears certain tiuit the. Embargo was .notoecessary to the safety a " our seamen, or 'sires sets, or our merchandise ;" where. Sir, I see and con • Bider these things, and their real eerdelltli in ' i word, when. I observe a cote:se — of preeeeding Which to tme appears calculated to. mislead the 'Ptlt'l lc mind to public.euin,. I cannot be silent. Regardless, .' therefore, of personal Consequences, I have under taken to comp - intik:ate tileset derails, with a vit:w to ' - dissipate dangerous illusions; to giveto toy conslie tuents correctinforMatiOn information; to excite inquiry; an d to rouse that vigilant jealousy which is c h ara cteristic Republicans, and essential lo the preserva tion:of their rights, their liberties, and independence. • I have the hOnoutt to be, very respei.ttfully, . Sir, your obedient Servant, Tzevene PICKERISG. MAILS. COttellbUrg).l, z - W - ateit'otd. PRICE OF. STOCKS ?KIS DAY AT L I•WiLLVi O'CLOCK. COOSOIS • . • - • - 66 THE S UN. QVIII•IIICILRI . JPAI.IUM AUf) r LONDON, 'IVgSDAY, ArtilL C 6, I'O4• .-. __..-.--4 It iti stated that a Divisi on , Last night another . Gottentargh arrived.--: of the. Swedish Army tins ientered Norway, and th a t th e It oss !r t u Army i lannad been obliged t o h a lt f o r want of provir.ion :i. The re-inforcetnents which win very shortly Foe h Sweden from this Country, Will, We trust, not 014 efreaually and finally stop the progress of the nuli" slam, but enable our gallant My to wrest 7 # .•:orwY from the Crown of Denmark, An article from Brussels, dated 2d March, states, . that Admiral GANTUBAUME having been appojilted ICommander-in-Chief of the united Rochefort a nd ToulonSq e. .uadronS, amounting to - eleven Sad Of th the Line, had sailed from Toulon on the ittth February. , Notwithstanding the number of rel ) ° ri3 which have been circulated respaling the Rochgfort Squadron, there is now no douiat that the first 4 ic' counts which reached us, of its having entered the. Mediterranean, 'were correet. SoMe doubt has been expressed in a Morning, Paper of the truth of the article from Brussels, on account of the time when the united Squadron ' l ' stated to have s;lled from Toulon; ,hut.of this fat we have the most unquestionable evidence, ag9eP t that it was the 1 Ith and not the 12th that toi sailid, for intelligence has been received th.it Pit; that day they were seen by the iipoilo Frizate,